Liars
by redcoattt
Summary: Amelia tenderly unwrapped the dirty shroud. The girls jumped back and gasped in horror. Human finger bones were piled in the center of the silk with a message written in red ink: "What will you do when the rest of me comes out of the grave?"
1. 22 Hours Gone

Miss Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

 _"I'm not contrary! And I hate plants. You know I barely scraped an A in my Herbology OWL last year," she would pout._

Sirius hummed as he approached the common room. He hadn't seen his disagreeable girlfriend all day and he was in need of affection as her fleeting goodnight kiss from the previous day faded from his cheek.

The Gryffindor common room was littered with students, but not the familiar blonde mop he was looking for.

"Miller!" He called over to the dark-haired girl who shared a dormitory with Mary MacDonald. "Is Mary up there?" He asked with a charming smile, looking for a favor.

"Haven't seen her all day," she was shaking her head. "We thought she skived off with you."

"She wasn't in class?" Mary was younger than him - just a year - although you'd never know it. She flitted from social groups years above and below, across house lines. But that also meant they didn't share any classes.

Where had she gone off to? He was the troublemaker in this relationship, barely making it back to the common room that night when his detention (with Filch, the git) ran over. He climbed the stairs to his own dormitory, he knew he would be able to locate her with the map. His head jolted back as he was welcomed into the 7th year Gryffindor boy's dormitory with a sock thrown straight into his eye.

"Oi!"

Peter had just charged forward at Remus (who had hurled the dirty sock) and held him in a headlock, wrestling like a pair of cubs. "Padfoot! Tell Moony to stop calling my mum leggy!"

"Your mum is leggy, Wormtail, we don't know what happened with you." Remus was laughing at Sirius' biting humor through Peter's grip.

"Where's the map? I can't find MacDonald," he asked as they continued to wrestle. The room was a mess and he was filtering through laundry, sweets wrappers, and half finished Potions essays in the space between James' bed and his, kicking rubbish aside.

"Is she dodging you already?" Remus said, breaking free from Peter.

"Good for her," Peter supplied.

The three laughed as he stuck his head under the bed. "Prongs took it for rounds," Remus finally explained as their brawl fizzled out.

"It's so he can snog Evans all hours of the night and still catch a Slytherin out of bed when they manage to come up for air." Sirius barked a laugh and rolled his eyes. He was already pulling out the mirror.

"Oi Prongs," he was calling into it, "put your tongues away!"

Shadows shifted in the mirror as James fished it out of his robes. When his face appeared, he was not mirroring the jovial look Sirius had on (reckon Sirius is rather "contrary" too), because James Potter, in fact, had a more serious expression than his best friend's name.

"Not now Padfoot, we've got a prefect missing," he said, apprehensive.

"Who?" Sirius asked, curious.

"McKinnon. Lily's upset, we've been watching the map for 15 minutes but she was supposed to be here at quarter-to."

* * *

Dorcas Meadowes is the top student in sixth year. Dorcas Meadowes does not miss class. Yet, her absence from first period Charms was not glaringly obvious until second period, when Regulus Black was lacking a Potions partner.

"Is she ill?" Professor Slughorn asked, also finding her absence odd.

"I don't know, sir," he replied. He would later wander into the hospital wing after lunch, looking for his prefect counterpart. The only two occupying the first floor infirmary was the older boy he knew as Remus Lupin and another, smaller, male figure.

He paced in an empty corner of the cavernous Slytherin common room. Dorcas being absent past dinner was oddly chilling. As the threat of a civil war mounted, the tension in the atmosphere had pervaded the school. Mulciber's burnt robes, his own brother's bloodied lip, the mark on his arm. _Where was Dorcas Meadowes?  
_

* * *

"Shame about Bones," a fifth year Ravenclaw boy tutted at his house table in the Great Hall.

Amelia Bones, the athletic Hufflepuff beauty, was the first to be reported missing. She didn't show up for her early Quidditch practice in the October fog. Her friends and teammates asked Professor Sprout if she had been excused for the day. She had not.

"FOUR HOGWARTS STUDENTS MISSING FROM THEIR BEDS" read the Prophet's front page the next morning. Dumbledore was furious. What had been at best a case of teenage delinquency was now a sensationalized panic piece.

Once the portraits had finished searching the castle, the staff took to the grounds. Parents were contacted. Detectives from the Auror Office were expected that morning for a thorough sweep of the castle.

It was the best-selling edition of the Prophet to date.


	2. Isla's Friends

Isla Dresden had been a bubbly blonde who inherited her father's Most Charming Smile ( _Witch Weekly_ December, 1955). A true Hufflepuff, it came as no surprise that her closest friends could be found in separate houses. She collected them as if they were shards of sea glass that just so happened to wash ashore at her feet.

Cyrus Meadowes and Declan Dresden were colleagues and close friends, as were their daughters growing up. Isla made an effort to not let their relationship atrophy as school began and separated the two into different houses.

Amelia Bones, sorted into Hufflepuff two students before her, was arguably the closest to Isla. Sharing a dormitory can do that to people.

Mary MacDonald, sugary sweet and hesitant to comb through the pots of dirt in first year Herbology, found refuge in being paired up with Isla Dresden. Isla found her antics hilarious and was generous enough to volunteer to do the grunt work in exchange for Mary's company.

Marlene McKinnon, the last to join Isla's motley crew, had been Isla's Charms partner. This time, it was Isla who was in need of assistance. Having grown up alongside Amelia, Marlene found falling into the inclusion of the group as easy as the moon falls into orbit.

The other three girls always found themselves welcome at the Hufflepuff table. Their giggles lofted through the abandoned Ghoul Studies classroom, their unofficial private meeting place during the winter months. In the fall and late spring, the large apple blossom tree near the lake had been claimed by the girls, kicking off their stockings to sun their legs and plaiting each others' hair.

Seemingly, the only thing these four girls really had in common was Isla. Until Isla died.

In her fourth year, Isla's home life began deteriorating. Her father had left her mother for another man. Her mother had been placed on medical leave from her pediatric healer position at St. Mungos after she had been caught smuggling out potent pain elixirs for herself. They were approaching financial ruin. And the whole school knew.

Isla's body was found at 7:55 am December 14th, 1975. Amelia did not hear her leave her bed in the middle of the night.

Hagrid found her broken body as he crossed in front of the Astronomy Tower that morning. Amelia found her note pinned neatly to her pillow.

A memorial was held for Isla at the school and the girls received special permission to attend her funeral in Yorkshire. They returned to school sullen, reserved, and absolutely inseparable.


	3. 24 Hours Gone

The four Gryffindor boys were finally reunited two hours later. Sirius pounced on the map as soon as James arrived and had not taken his eyes off it, scanning for the chance of an appearance of the name _Mary MacDonald_ , scribbled in his handwriting.

James, briefed as the Head Boy, in turn broke the news to his friends. Four 6th year girls - Mary MacDonald, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, and Amelia Bones - had disappeared from the castle overnight. Dumbledore had ordered the portraits to search the castle for the girls. Sirius knew from the map that the attempt was pointless.

Suddenly there was a rap on the thick oak door. Professor McGonagall entered uncustomarily in her plaid dressing gown. Sirius quickly wiped the map and looked up from the enchanted parchment.

"Excuse the late hour, boys," she greeted. Her traditional demeanor had changed. A concerned look had replaced the trademark stern air she carried herself with. Sirius found it unsettling.

"Mr. Lupin, the headmaster would like to speak with you."

All four boys froze.

James was the first to react. "It wasn't _Remus_ , Professor!" Sirius and Peter immediately sprang into a supporting chorus of "No, he didn't do anything!" "You can't actually think that!"

"Nor do we think Mr. Lupin had anything to do with the events of last night, whatever they may be," Professor McGonagall explained, silencing them. The three boys exchanged uneasy looks with each other and then looked over to Remus, who was frozen with a grim expression.

"Seeing as Mr. Lupin was the only one on the grounds last night we would like to know his version of events before any third parties begin getting involved," she sniffed and peered over her glasses. It was clear they were trying to rule Remus out before the Aurors began poking around.

Remus still hadn't moved, every horrible "what if" swimming through his mind regardless of what his friends and Head of House said.

Lupin was deathly pale as he stepped forward and followed McGonagall down the staircase. "This is _not_ your fault Moony!" James called after him, reassuring. The three remaining boys stared at each other across the room.

"I didn't see anything, did you guys see anything?" Peter was the first to ask in a hurried and hushed voice although the professor was long gone.

Sirius and James both shook their heads. "No. Nothing unusual last night. And I reckon if they already don't suspect Remus that we shouldn't turn ourselves in if we don't have any information," James reasoned.

Sirius sat back down on his bed, his head resting against the wall, eyes closed and pinching his nose with two fingers like a migraine was a coming on. "I don't remember anything out of the ordinary last night. The grounds were quiet."


	4. 36 Hours Gone

The Gryffindor sixth and seventh years who had elected to not pursue Astronomy at the NEWT level had been exiled from Gryffindor Tower during their free period. The Aurors were searching the common room and dormitories for clues. Sirius had been up all night watching the map, and his eyes were darkened the next day as he hopelessly persevered, lost at how to help.

They were in the aqueduct courtyard now. Sirius was transfixed on the map, reluctant to turn it in but desperate to monitor it for any updates, also tracking the Aurors' movements around the castle. (It was clear by now, the girls were not in the castle.) Peter and Remus, who was gone for only about an hour in the fortnight, appeared to be reading their Potions text for the next period, but their minds too laid with the missing students.

Remus had wrestled over breakfast with his decision to lie to Dumbledore's face that he had been in the Shrieking Shack all night (false) and hadn't heard or seen or smelled anything on the Hogwarts grounds last night, the night of the full moon (true). Or that the cut on his leg was from a piece of broken furniture in a shack (false) and not from a protruding tentacula branch in the forest (true).

He had been on the grounds, with his three animagi friends, but nothing about that night was atypical. James was leaning against the podium to stand watch, deliberating the situation.

"Bones is heading towards us," Sirius muttered as a warning, wiping the map as Edgar Bones, Amelia's brother as well as Auror, rounded the corner, understandably looking very distraught.

"Edgar," James greeted as the young man came over. He was four years older than the boys, having just completed Auror training on the recommendation of James' father.

"James," he nodded. It was clear he repressing quite frantic feelings toward the maddening situation. "They won't let me near the investigation. Conflict of interest," he explained, huffing. "I couldn't just sit at my desk though could I?" He reasoned and James patted him on the shoulder.

Sirius sat up like a dog on the scent. "Who are the suspecting? Do they suspect Death Eaters?" his voice took a dark edge and was eager. He, too, with a loved one as a victim, had been excluded from briefings as authorities handled the sensitive information and he was starving for news about the investigation.

Edgar shook his head. "That's not was Auror Moody thinks. He's on this case as a favor to Dumbledore. Death Eaters usually claim their victims. They have a mark, goes up in the sky nowadays after an attack - I'm sure you've seen that grainy picture the Prophet published - and there's nothing here. Not to mention this wasn't a muggleborn attack. Two purebloods missing, not to mention a Slytherin. No...this is strange. " An odd shadow passed Edgar's face.

"We were hoping it was a runaway case when Dumbledore first contacted us. It would make sense, he wants to keep peace with the parents and would be obligated to report a disappearance like this. But so far, everything is in place. There are no indications of truancy nor foul play. We don't know what to make of it."

As if on a theater cue, another Auror, about the same age as Bones, rushed into the courtyard. If Sirius had been keeping an eye on the map, he would've seen the aggregation of Aurors into the 6th year Gryffindor girls' dormitory.

"Bones," he panted, out of breath from the quick descent of seven floors. "You'll want to see this," the other Auror explained.

Six floors up, in a room that had been torn apart, was a bracelet in the corner of Mary MacDonald's cedar trunk. Instead of beads were individual human teeth, seemingly, on a string, with carvings into the molars that read "DEAD GIRLS CAN'T SMILE."


End file.
